Brown changed producers for this album, and worked extensively with hit-making songwriting/production duo Babyface and L.A. Reid. Alex Henderson of Allmusic writes

“

Don't Be Cruel was to Bobby Brown what Control was to Janet Jackson -- a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his "bubblegum" image altogether and brought him to a new artistic and commercial plateau. With "My Prerogative" and the title song, Brown became a leader of new jack swing -- a forceful, high-tech blend of traditional soul singing and rap/hip-hop that's also associated with Guy and Brown's New Edition colleagues, Bell Biv DeVoe.[5]

Don't Be Cruel debuted at #74 on the Billboard 200 on July 23, 1988. It wasn't until six months later that the album reached #1, starting a six-week non-consecutive run at #1, from January 21, 1989 - February 4, 1989 and February 18, 1989 - March 4, 1989. Its reign at number one was interrupted for one week by Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction.

The album also spent a total of 11 non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart over the course of 1988 and 1989. It spent an eight-week non-consecutive run at #1 from September–November 1988, and then remarkably returned to #1 four months later in Match 1989.

Don't Be Cruel was the best selling album of 1989 in the United States, and finished #1 on the Billboard Year-End album chart.[6]

All five singles released from the album reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. "Don't Be Cruel" was released as the lead single. The second single, "My Prerogative" earn Brown his first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. "My Prerogative" was also the second-biggest single of 1989, finishing at #2 on the Year-End Billboard Hot 100 Singles of 1989. Three of the singles also reached #1 on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs chart.